Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHEALTH 11012012TOWN OF MANSFIELD BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES NOVEMBER 1, 2012 Present: Michael Healey, Chairman; Nancy Wall; Michael McClean; Scott Leite, Board of Health Agent. 1. Call to Order @ 7:02 PM at Town Hall in Meeting Room 2 A/B 2. Consent Agenda a. Approval of Minutes of October 4, 2012 b. Approval of a Permit to Operate a Temporary Food Establishment Grab a Dog Roadside Grille Panera Bread — Oktoberfest Sweet Whips, LLC MOTION: To Approve the Consent Agenda Wall /McClean Passed 3 -0 -0. Visitors: Pediatrician Dr. Lester Hartman, Ms. Cheryl Sbarra, Senior Staff Attorney for the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards and Marilyn Edge, Western Bristol County & Foxborough Tobacco & Alcohol Prevention Collaborative. Dr. Hartman is concerned about the toxic effects of tobacco use on young people and is asking Boards of Health to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products from eighteen to twenty -one. He told the board that ninety percent of lifetime smokers begin smoking before the age of eighteen. Because of the effects of smoking on the adolescent brain, he feels if young people were denied access to tobacco products until the age of twenty-one, the potential for addiction might be reduced. Dr. Hartman explained that such policies are made at the local level and said he has visited towns south and west of Boston to ask that they consider raising the age to legally purchase tobacco products. He told the board Needham raised the minimum age to buy tobacco products to age nineteen in 2003 and later raised it to age twenty-one. He feels the higher age limit is working; the number of teens using tobacco has dropped considerably. Belmont and Brookline recently went to age nineteen and Watertown is considering it. Ms. Sbarra said she will be meeting with Dr. Hartman next week to further discuss this issue. The board will review the information presented at tonight's meeting and will wait for feedback from Dr. Hartman and Ms. Sbarra's meeting before discussing all the information at a future meeting. 3. Correspondence 4. Health Agent's Report 1. Mosquitoes: The Agent told the board he feels the season is over. 2. Flu Clinics: An additional 200 doses of flu vaccine have been given to the town by the state. A flu clinic has been scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, 2012, from 3:30- 7:00 pm at the Mansfield High School. 3. Public Services Announcements: The Agent will do a PSA for the mercury recovery program and one on predatory septic system practices and unethical septic installers. 4. Fee Information: The information was sent by e-mail to the board members for review. 5. HHW Information: The Agent reviewed information from the last 10 years of the town's hazardous waste collections. He told the board there has been a decline in attendance. 5. New Business 6. Old Business 7. Adjournment Motion: To Adjourn at 8:15 pm Wall /McClean Passed, Date All matters listed under Consent Agenda afe considered to be routine by the Board of Health and will be enacted by one motion. There will not be separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and w111 be considered separately. 2